Tuesday, January 14, 2014

In Wild Tales, Graham Nash doesn’t waste time in getting to the big bang event most readers will be eager to hear about: His first encounter with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. After that opening chapter, Nash travels back to his childhood to begin this entertaining autobiography. It’s not a journey delivered in strict chronological order; he sometimes follows a narrative thread over the course of a few years before slipping back again to pick up another tale. Nash employs an easy-going writing style that places the reader on a bar stool beside him, most likely in an English pub. It’s a buddy-to-buddy account, with a fair amount of nudge-nudge, wink-wink material.

Nash must have known that at least some of his recollections would cast him in an unfavorable light. After all, he spent a good portion of his musical career chasing mini-skirts and consuming (although never becoming addicted to) illegal drugs. He doesn’t excuse or condemn this past behavior; Wild Tales is filled with let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may observations of an era of free love and mind-altering experimentation. As he simply states in the Acknowledgments, “This is how I remember it.” Later in the book, he notes the disastrous effect that too much cocaine use had on the ability of Crosby, Stills and Nash to record or perform music. He also settles down with Susan Sennett, who becomes the love of his life.

Throughout Wild Tales, Nash’s core values come across loud and clear; his obsession with harmony singing, his devotion to friends, his strong bond with his parents, and a passion for social justice. Like George Harrison and John Lennon, he became one of the pioneers of using music to reach out to others in need, whether it be in the form of writing a new song, or putting together benefit concerts.

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About This Blog

Broken Hearted Toy is an eclectic celebration of creativity, with over 2,000 posts since 2009.

It's based in Chicago but covers power pop, garage, cutting-edge, and 1960s rock from around the globe; along with occasional bits on art; literature; and theatre.

Top of the hill is a nice place to be at. - - - "Elevated Observations" by The Hollies.

Check out some of my previoius creative endeavors.

Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff was a weekly Internet show created by and starring Jeff Kelley. It mostly consisted of comedy bits and obscure 1960s garage rock set to vintage TV and film clips but also spotlighted entertainment events around Illinois.

My wife Pam and I created a handful of series (each episode was about two minutes long) that were shown on Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. They included Manchester Gallery (see description below); Old Days, which I hosted in the persona of a cranky old man named Fritz Willoughby; Roving Reporter, where I played the clueless title character; What's With Terry?, a performance arts program; and Hanging With The Hollies, a takeoff on Breakfast With The Beatles.

I've also worked with Kelley and Willy Deal on comedy clips, and with Kelley and David Metzger on films for the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street Halloween festival in Elgin.

I'm particularly proud of this 21-episode comedy series Pam and I created for Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff. Each installment was a few minutes long, and featured me portraying Terrence, the curator of a pop culture museum.

I was a staff writer for this Chicago-based magazine from 1987 to 2015. The Illinois Entertainer has been covering rock music for over 40 years, and can be found in stores and entertainment venues, as well as in an online edition.

Chicago Art Machine was a web-based publishing company run by Editor-in-Chief, Kathryn Born, and Managing Editor, Robin Dluzen, that included Chicago Art Magazine, Chicago DIY Film,Chicago Performance And Trailers, and TINC. Most of my submissions appeared in Chicago DIY Film and Chicago Performance And Trailers, although I contributed to all the online Chicago Art Machine publications.

I was a writer and performer with this local comedy group from 1989 to 2009. Famous In The Future continues to perform in the Chicago area, and appeared at every one of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sinstheatre festivals that were held at the Mary-Arrchie Theatre. Since the closing of the Mary-Arrchie Theatre a few years ago, Famous In The Future has carried on the tradition by presenting Yippie Fest each year in August.

I'm an active member of SCBWI, (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and have written two Middle Grade fantasy novels. I've just finished a YA/paranormal novel, and also wrote a suspense/satiric novel that takes place amidst Chicago's alternative music scene in the mid-1980s.

Broken Hearted Toy

The blog title comes from the line, "I'm the brokenhearted toy you play with" in the song "I Can't Let Go" by The Hollies. One of the great original British Invasion bands, The Hollies continue to have an immense influence on power pop bands to this day, and have finally been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a video of "I Can't Let Go" being performed in 1966.